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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a very personal view of a teacher-student relationship, October 31, 1999
By A Customer
Peter Uhlmann is a long-time student of Taiji teacher Henry Wang, presently based in Comox B.C., but originally hailing from Taipei. He met Master Wang while living in Taipei and from him learned the short Yang form, as developed and transmitted by Grandmaster Cheng Man-Ching. The heart of the book consists of an exploration of Master Wang's analysis of Taiji's basic principles, as well as an often very amusing account of the culture-collision which occurred when he immigrated to Canada from Taipei. Peter Uhlmann's "Flowing the Tai Chi Way" is an amusing and informative book. It is also unusual in that it is just as much about a student's relationship with a teacher, as it is about Taiji principles. Rarely has this reader seen a work on Taiji as relentlessly personal as this. As he writes, "Meeting Henry in 1982 was like getting married to Tai Chi. My commitment to Tai Chi and to him is almost like a marital bond."Certainly, his marital bonds must have occasionally been tested by his commitment to his master. Unflinchingly, Uhlman describes the matter-of-fact misogynism of a culture where, after a full meal, the women would be expected to clear up and wash dishes while the men tended to the important business of sitting around and discussing Taiji! He also recounts his misgivings on realizing that his master was quite serious in responding affirmatively to Uhlmann's suggestion that he might someday consider emigrating from Taiwan to Canada. Uhlmann knew that, within the conventions of "Wu De", he had assumed a major obligation and that he would be called upon to act as sponsor and guarantor of his teacher, in helping him acclimatize to a new country and culture. The details of this relationship, depicted with restraint and great good humour, make for excellent reading. As depicted, Henry Wang's system regards Taiji as being defined by seven fundamental principles: Centre (central equilibrium or "Zhong Ding" and rooting), Balance (50-50 or 0-100, as opposed to the conventional 70-30), Proportion (linkage between the appropriate joints, whether on the upper-lower body-axis, or between one side and the other), Circle (roundness, rotational integrity and "Peng"), Co-ordination (whole body and body to mind), Concentration (focus and intent) and Relaxation ("Soong"). His understanding thus falls well within traditional parameters and will seem very familiar to most. As further illustration of this classical orientation, he describes the student's development according to the "three jewels" of internal alchemy. Thus the beginner is at the "Jin" level, concerned with mastering the elements of form; the intermediate is at the "Chi" level, developing more internal elements; the advanced student is at the "Shen" level, raising the practice to a more spiritual and less physically obvious plane. A possibly more controversial area is in Henry Wang's approach to "pushing hands". Although a graduate of the brutal Taipei push-hands scene and a successful championship contender, Wang has apparently re-defined this aspect of the art into what he terms "Searching Centre"; students are not allowed to use any overt force whatsoever. Emphasis is placed on qi, rather than kinesiological structure, and a premium is placed on sensitivity and softness. Well and good; many of us are quite skeptical of the smash-jerk-and-grab we see at most Taiji competitions. However Peter Uhlmann depicts Henry Wang's theories as being ignored and rejected by the organizers of a Taiji tournament in Vancouver where he demonstrated them in 1995. As his students won some medals at the event in question, I'd like to know more about this, as nothing usually creates respect like success. It would be interesting to have some input from one of the tournament organizers in regard to this incident. Another reason for occasional caution is that, while amusing, informative and fascinating, Peter Uhlmann's depiction of Master Henry Wang often borders on the hagiographic. With great honesty he discloses a potential cause for the intimate emotional intensity of his account, by revealing his personal struggle with cancer (thankfully in remission). Clearly Henry Wang is his Guru (something which I do not believe Peter Uhlmann would dispute). The emotional support which he has clearly been afforded by this teacher and by the art of Taiji, placed within the context of a life-threatening illness, cannot be estimated. While the quality of this relationship may be somewhat off-putting to some, this reader found it to be the most interesting aspect of the book. Few of us today are party to this kind of bond. "Flowing the Tai Chi Way" is a personal account, not a prescriptive text. With that borne in mind, it should be a welcome addition to many personal libraries. Reviewed for "Tongren", the newsletter of the Canadian Taijiquan Federation. P.O. Box 421, Milton, Ontario, CANADA, L9T 4Z1. Steve Higgins, Oct. 31st., 1999.
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